Hoosiers Rediscover Themselves, Trample No. 1 Kentucky

INDIANAPOLIS — They ignored Kentucky all last week. No matter that the Wildcats were ranked No. 1 and the opponent that would be awaiting them come Saturday in Indianapolis' Hoosier Dome.

Indiana's players ignored them and worried only about themselves.

Their season-opening loss to Butler and the approach demanded of them in its wake was their concern. "After watching that film," senior guard Todd Leary said, "we wanted to get sick. It was kind of pathetic. It was a tough lesson. So our concentration all week was on finding a team that would play hard all the time."

"We had to find a team that would dig deeper into each other," senior guard Damon Bailey added.

They were speaking late Saturday afternoon, moments after their Hoosiers had upset Kentucky 96-84. The Hoosiers had dug deep and had played hard for the full 40 minutes, and all through this affair had offered themselves up in a memorable testament to full-bodied will.

Bailey was their leader here, scoring, defending, encouraging, exhorting, putting in a draining 37 minutes though hobbled by cramps all through the second half. He had 23 points in the first half, 29 points in the game and on the defensive end harassed his counterpart-Kentucky guard Tony Delk-into 5-of-17 shooting.

"He wanted to take it on," said Kentucky coach Rick Pitino. "He had that look about him. He was a dominant ballplayer tonight."

"I think that's the best I've seen Damon Bailey play," said Indiana coach Bob Knight. "I think that's how he should play all the time. I think that's how he's capable of playing."

But he was hardly the only Hoosier who stepped forward capably this day.

There also was junior forward Alan Henderson, who started this one on the bench as a reward for his lethargic effort against Butler. He would play 26 minutes, score 17 points, grab 11 rebounds and be a big part of Indiana's stifling interior defense.

There was Leary, who also started on the bench. He would play 27 minutes and help hold Kentucky point Travis Ford, who scored 20 points, to 7-of-20 shooting.

There were forward Brian Evans, who scored 19, and freshman guards Steve Hart and Sherron Wilkerson, who started and ignited the Hoosiers early. And always there was constant Hoosier movement, offensive movement that earned them countless layups, defensive movement that held Kentucky to 30.8 percent shooting in the first half, to 34.6 shooting in the game, to 27.3 percent shooting from beyond the three-point line.

The Hoosiers, in fact, were a cyclone that blew right from game's start. They were up by seven after just 5 minutes, and their coach was on fire.

"That was about as excited as I've been about basketball in a long time," said Knight. "The way we started, I almost became a fan because we were playing so hard."

But Kentucky rallied to take a 35-29 lead with 6:30 left in the first half, and now this affair was at one of those crossroads that always appear in games between willful teams.

It was there, and Bailey just took over, scoring 13 points down this stretch and pushing the Hoosiers to a 55-44 halftime lead.

"I thought we played about as well as we could play in that stretch," Knight said.

But still, his team was severely tested, first when Kentucky closed within three with 12:37 remaining. It responded with a Henderson dunk and a Pat Graham jumper.

And it was tested the six times Kentucky closed to within five in the second half. It responded by never letting the Wildcats get any closer and by outscoring them 14-7 in the final 4 minutes.

"I have to be really pleased with our effort and the way we hung in on tough situations," Knight said. "Every season you face those situations, and if you develop the ability to hang in there during them, it means a lot to a team.

"Playing hard, that's all we were worried about," concluded Bailey. "We didn't worry about stopping Travis Ford. We worried about getting an Indiana team out there that was fun to watch again."